USDA announced funding to help veterinarians repay loans

$4.2 million will be made available

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced it’s making $4.2 million available to help veterinarians pay down their educational loans.

In exchange, vets have to serve outside of urban centers for three years. These vets would work on farms and ranches to keep livestock and the nation’s food supply healthy.

"This assistance will help veterinarians return to rural America where they can provide needed services to our farmers and ranchers, and continue to keep our food supply secure from diseases of farm animals,” Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA director, said in an April 6 release.

To be eligible for the payment assistance, veterinarians must meet certain criteria, including:

• Have a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, or the equivalent from a college of veterinary medicine accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association, by July 2, 2017,
• Have a minimum qualifying education loan of $15,000,
• Secure an offer of employment in a NIFA-designated veterinary shortage area, and
• Not owe an obligation for veterinary service to the federal government, state or other entity.

The deadline to apply is May 26, 2017.

NIFA is also providing $2.4 million in funding to relieve the overall shortage of veterinarians across the United States.

The deadline for those applications is May 19, 2017.